The Province of Law

(Bxtax&bt artb SfogisMfoe !§t$Kttmtrd& OF THE GOVERNMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS, AT THE ANNUAL ELECTION, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 1869. r3e?t/'a nn^rxr »f By B. F. CLARK. C ' BOSTON: WRIGHT & POTTER, STATE PRINTERS, 79 Milk Street, (Corner of Federal.) 1869. tu*> i^ZJfrt**! < U J / / W Commontntalt^ of Itassatfettsttts. In Senate, January 14, 1869. Ordered, That a Committee be appointed to present the thanks of the Senate to the Rev. Benjamin F. Clark, for the able discourse delivered before the Executive and Legislative branches of the Government of the Commonwealth, on the 6th instant, and to request a copy of the same for publication. Messrs. Dean, Hathaway and Smith are appointed said Committee. S. N. GIFFORD, Clerk. In Senate, January 18, 1869. The Committee appointed by Order of the Senate of January 14, to present the thanks of the Senate to the Reverend Benjamin F. Clark, for the able discourse deliv- ered before the' Executive and Legislative branches of the Government of the Com- monwealth, on the 6th instant, and to request a copy of the same for publication, report that they have attended to that duty, and herewith present a copy of Mr. Clark's discourse and recommend that it be printed. Per orcftr, BENJAMIN DEAN, Chairman. Senate, January 18, 1869. Accepted. S. N. GIFFORD, Clerk. fa ^m^hkU^^U^. Note,— A few pages, omitted in the deliverr, are added in the printed Sermon. SERMON. I. Timothy, i. 8. BUT WE KNOW THAT THE LAW IS GOOD, IF A MAN USE IT LAWFULLY. The Lord Jesus Christ was a reformer. As the light of the world, he came to dissipate moral dark- ness, and to show men the truth, through the agency of which they might be freed from the con- trolling power of sin, and made holy. His mission to earth included another work inseparably con- nected with that of reform, a work finished upon the cross, where he tasted death for every man, whose redemption it purchased, and whom it placed in a salvable state. In his work of reform, the great teacher employed the truth. He rea- soned with men. He explained to them his sys- tem, and urged its adoption. He clearly described the two ways of life, and their termination, pre- senting reasons why the one should be chosen, and the other rejected. In connection with his teach- ings he wrought miracles, but he never employed his miraculous power to force men into the right 8 THE PROVINCE OP LAW way, or to adopt his system. He never did vio- lence to the free agency of persons whom he ex- horted to reform. In his efforts to effect this moral change, he employed only moral means. On one occasion he said to certain Jews who had recently believed on him : w If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed ; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." During his t public ministry, he selected men to accompany him whom he taught his gospel, which demanded repentance, another name for reforma- tion; and, before his ascension, he commissioned them to go into all the world and preach his gospel to every creature, and to proselyte to the belief and practice of what they preached. The disciples obeyed this last command of their teacher and Lord. They preached, and many believed the truths they uttered, and were reformed. The dis- ciples wrought miracles in the name of Christ, but they never employed their miraculous power to compel men to believe what they taught, or to change their habits. Persuasion was the only agency they used in connection with the truth. After his ascension, Jesus met Saul of Tarsus, on his persecuting tour against Christians, convinced him of his guilt, won him to his service, and subse- IN DISTINCTION PROM THAT OP TRUTH. 9 quently revealed to him his gospel, and commis- sioned him to teach it. The system of truth he revealed to Saul was the same he taught the eleven. Instructed by this revelation, the con- verted persecutor became a distinguished Christian teacher. In this capacity he besought men to become reconciled to God. He warned them, day and night, with tears; urging them, by considera- tions addressed to their hopes and fears, to believe the truth and reform. In imitation of him whose disciples they were, and for whom they acted the part of ambassadors, Paul and his associates employed no other agency than truth to rescue men from the power of sin, to renovate their char- acters, and put them in a course of training for heaven. In speaking of himself under the figure of a warrior, Paul said : w The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty, through God, to the pulling down of strong holds ; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing iuto captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." Paul believed that there was power in gospel truth, through God, to effect a complete reformation in man. In the entire published his- tory of Christ and those whom he commissioned to 10 THE PROVINCE OF LAW teach in his name and in his stead, we find no allusion to their employing other than persuasive means in their peculiar work. The apostles and their associates and successors carried forward the great Christian reformation commenced by Christ, bringing multitudes under its control and subject- ing them to its salutary influence. This great, reformation encountered .powerful opposition, organized and unorganized. Its ene- mies waged against it repeated and bitter persecu- tions, without, however, stopping its progress, or even imposing upon it any essential check. The blood thus shed enriched the Christian soil, and strengthened the reformation it was designed to destroy. …